If a 5th Level Warlock gets hit by a Paladin, do they have to declare they use Tomb of Levistus before the paladin smites? or can they decide to use it after they declare the Smite?
The Trigger for Tomb of Levistus is 'Immediately after you take the damage'
While Divine Smite is 'when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack'
What is the order of operation?
My view is you have to decide to Divine Smite before you roll damage. Or else you will have Paladins doing their normal attack then, then go, 'oh, you are not dead then I'll smite'. So that means the Warlock can decide, 'oh, he is going to smite'. Then I'll use Tome of Levistus?
It's a weird way to have the rules work but it's the same as the Shield spell in that you first have to be hit to use your reaction to add the +5 to AC, even against the triggering effect which may make the initial attack miss.
As a side note that Invocation says you are entombed in ice until the end of your next turn, that is how you get all those effects and stuff... but if you are entombed in ice, in order to be attacked or damaged don't things first have to get through all that ice? Entombed mean totally buried or encased in ice. Ice is an object that has a certain amount of hp itself (pages 246-247 in the DMG.) Plus doesn't that count as total cover so you can't be targeted by attacks or spells?
No - The ice's "HP" is fully represented by the Temp HP. You also don't gain cover or any other benefits from it.
Treat it like a full set of plate mail. You don't get cover from plate mail, and creatures don't need to puncture the metal before harming you.
Also, one downside to Tomb is you lose concentration on whatever spell you get back... and the tomb ends at the END of your turn, which leaves you open. But yeah, avoiding an instant death kill is awesome 🙂
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If a 5th Level Warlock gets hit by a Paladin, do they have to declare they use Tomb of Levistus before the paladin smites? or can they decide to use it after they declare the Smite?
The Trigger for Tomb of Levistus is 'Immediately after you take the damage'
While Divine Smite is 'when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack'
What is the order of operation?
My view is you have to decide to Divine Smite before you roll damage. Or else you will have Paladins doing their normal attack then, then go, 'oh, you are not dead then I'll smite'. So that means the Warlock can decide, 'oh, he is going to smite'. Then I'll use Tome of Levistus?
Just want to see how the experts determine this.
Your view matches my understanding.
1. Determine if attacker hits.
2. Target player decides whether or not to use Shield (if applicable).
3. If attack still hits, determine damage (add sneak attack or smite or whatever here).
3. Target player decides whether or not to use Tomb of Levistus.
Cool. so they can wait until the whole damage is worked out?
eg, damn, I failed by save from the fireball, I'll check out the damage first before I decide to waste my Tomb of Levistus or not?
I'm liking it more, it's almost like a free get out of jail card.
No - The ice's "HP" is fully represented by the Temp HP. You also don't gain cover or any other benefits from it.
Treat it like a full set of plate mail. You don't get cover from plate mail, and creatures don't need to puncture the metal before harming you.
Also, one downside to Tomb is you lose concentration on whatever spell you get back... and the tomb ends at the END of your turn, which leaves you open. But yeah, avoiding an instant death kill is awesome 🙂